Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD - Free Report) by 13.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 274,563 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 33,456 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.30% of Mettler-Toledo International worth $335,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Mettler-Toledo International by 242.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 24 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 272.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 41 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 4,500.0% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 46 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 48 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,550.00 to $1,450.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup raised shares of Mettler-Toledo International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,362.00 to $1,369.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Mettler-Toledo International in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,450.00 to $1,475.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $1,368.00.

Mettler-Toledo International Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MTD traded down $0.69 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $1,302.24. 141,332 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 137,840. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $1,284.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,334.32. Mettler-Toledo International Inc. has a one year low of $1,142.91 and a one year high of $1,546.93. The company has a market cap of $27.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.13.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $12.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.76 by $0.65. Mettler-Toledo International had a net margin of 22.29% and a negative return on equity of 591.54%. Equities analysts predict that Mettler-Toledo International Inc. will post 42.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Gerry Keller sold 140 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,254.09, for a total transaction of $175,572.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,524.54. This trade represents a 95.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mettler-Toledo International Profile

Mettler-Toledo International Inc manufactures and supplies precision instruments and services in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It operates through five segments: U.S. Operations, Swiss Operations, Western European Operations, Chinese Operations, and Other. The company's laboratory instruments include laboratory balances, liquid pipetting solutions, automated laboratory reactors, real-time analytics, titrators, pH meters, process analytics sensors and analyzer technologies, physical value analyzers, density and refractometry, thermal analysis systems, and other analytical instruments; and LabX, a laboratory software platform to manage and analyze data generated from its instruments.